Mike Monroe: Duncan may get a leg up in minutes

Already this season, Gregg Popovich has approached Tim Duncan to tell him he would be sitting the second game of a set of back-to-backs.

Duncan is 36, with a left knee that requires the external stability of a sophisticated brace. He has played 47,119 minutes in 1,312 regular-season and playoff games over 15-plus seasons. The Spurs coach is borderline obsessed with minimizing Duncan’s workload.

But Duncan would have none of not playing so early in the season, and Popovich swears his pregame argument with the Spurs captain went something like this: “I ask him, ‘Who does he think is running this program?’ And he tells me, and I say, ‘OK.’”

Now the Spurs are off on their longest uninterrupted road trip of the season without two key frontline players: Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson.

Can Popovich dare to ask Duncan to skip one of the six games the Spurs will play against Eastern Conference teams before they return to the AT&T Center on Dec. 1?

Duncan’s production through the first 11 games has been a trip back to the glory days of a career that will make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer. At 18 points per game, his scoring average is higher than any season since 2008-09, and he already has five games of 20 or more points. His 10 rebounds per game rank 11th-best in the league. His 2.73 blocks per game rate fourth.

The formula Hall of Famer Larry Bird first postulated in the mid-1980s as the best measure of a player’s overall value (add points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, then subtract missed shots, missed free throws and turnovers, then divide by number of games) provides a more incisive measure. Duncan’s average Bird number per game is 24.7. Only Kevin Durant (29.9), LeBron James (29.0), Kobe Bryant (26.5) and Anderson Varejao (25.4) have higher averages.

Though he thinks there are better formulas for measuring player efficiency, Manu Ginobili raised an eyebrow when told where Duncan ranks by Bird’s measure.

“That’s impressive that he is so high on that list, but it doesn’t surprise me,” Ginobili said. “He is really doing so many things well.”

Has Duncan really turned back the clock by several years?

Popovich is convinced.

“A lot of people have said that for several years now, and it really is true,” Popovich said. “He’s reduced his weight the last three years, works all summer on flexibility and those sorts of things. He’s really disciplined about what he puts in his body.”

Duncan’s adaptation to accommodate his age has been gradual and reasoned.

“He’s never been a leaper,” Popovich said. “He’s always been a fundamentally sound individual, but he’s got some explosiveness this year on his drives. He’s expanded his game, kind of like Michael (Jordan) learning to shoot more instead of dunking everything.

“Timmy has learned to shoot the jumper from the elbows and on the wings because he’s not going to go down on the post and amaze people anymore. So he picks and chooses and tries to figure out who’s guarding him and where he should be on the court, in addition to taking care of his body.

“It’s worked real well for him and, obviously, for us.”

It will have to continue working over the next 10 days and six games. Losing Leonard and Jackson necessitates more small-ball, and that means Duncan will be asked to carry an even bigger load down low.